Submission on the Draft B.C. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework

Joint submission on the Draft B.C. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework from the Business Council of British Columbia, the Mining Association of British Columbia, the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C., the Council of Forest Industries, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.

Our organizations are committed to building economic prosperity for the benefit of all citizens of British Columbia. Our members throughout the province bring investment resulting in well-paying, family-supporting jobs in urban and rural communities. We understand the provincial landscape, natural endowment of species, and complex and varied ecosystems are all part of the vast potential of British Columbia. A healthy economy depends on a healthy natural environment and B.C. citizens, including those in the business community, care deeply about both. Sustaining the long-term capacity of both social and natural systems is important for British Columbia. This requires cooperation, prioritization, and recognition of multiple objectives when determining trade-offs in public interest decision making. It is within this frame that we offer the following comments...